Last Day in Istanbul!

What a day! We woke up and had a wonderful traditional Turkish breakfast up on the rooftop terrace. Then were off to explore the Old City of Istanbul!

First stop was the Basilica Cistern. This underground water collecting area was surprisingly beautiful. It was built by Justinian in the days of Roman rule. It was massive and had many, many columns and brick arches. There were only had a few lights as well as spooky music... So it was quite the experience. 

One of the Medusa heads found in the cistern.

Then we walked to the Archeological Museum of Istanbul! Many interesting relics of very early civilizations, beautiful ceramics and tiles, and finally a room full of very large sarcophagi (my plural word for sarcophagus.. Maybe it's right?). 

No clue.

Lauren found another friend!

The bathroom at the museum... Classic Turkey.

After it was time to shop! We headed straight uphill to the Grand Bazaar! (Really... When we asked for directions he offered the easy way or the short way... I picked short). It was nothing like I expected! It was covered and just lined with shops. 

View of the Bazaar from our lunch spot.

I've learned my mother is the queen of bartering. It all makes sense now. We then found (well Trip Advisor helped us out) a cute little "kiosk" or street vender inside the bazaar. It was so yummy! So authentic. Lots of meat. Lots of yummy meat. It was fun.

We headed back to the hotel to pack up a bit, get off our feet, and have a drink on the rooftop. And now I'm currently writing this on the ferry to dinner! However, the plan was to see one more mosque before heading to the ferry. Unfortunately we ended up sitting in a cab in awful traffic for quite some time, were dropped off at the wrong mosque, and then had to walk about 2 km to the ferry. It was quite the experience to walk through real Istanbul. 

For dinner, we are meeting a friend from Kingwood who is doing mission work here in Istanbul. We grew up in youth group together so it'll be great to catch up and see him again. I'll finish later!

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Now on the ferry heading back to the Old City. Dinner was lovely! (And tasty as usual. It was so great to see Andy again and see the area he's living in. He's doing amazing work here in Istanbul. 

Now to head back, finish packing, and get to bed early! Our flight leaves at 6:20 tomorrow morning. So we're leaving the hotel at 3:45! Yikes.

I'll post one more time tomorrow when we get home! Then I'll be sure to give y'all a link to all the pictures when I get through them all!

It's hard to say goodbye to such amazing places, but we're excited to get home.

Love,
Llewy